China Rejects Report claiming abuse, organ trade of Pakistani girls

The Chinese Embassy in Islamabad has  rejected the media report by an US based news agency that had claimed that at least 629 Pakistani girls were sold as brides to China.

The Associated Press on December 4 had reported that more than five hundred Pakistani girls were sold as brides to China recently, alleging acts of abuse, organized prostitution, organ trading and so on.

In response to the report, the Spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy issued a statement on Wednesday and said: “We have noted the above-mentioned media report. It is the same old stuff and not true.”

Stating the view of its government on these reports, the spokesperson of the Embassy of China in Pakistan said: “The Embassy would like to reiterate its clear position on the issue of transnational marriage.”

“The Chinese government will protect legitimate marriages and combat crimes. If any organization or individual commits a crime in Pakistan under the banner of transnational marriage.”

The embassy official added that under the joint efforts of the two government, the illegal marriage matching activity has been effectively curbed, and that China would always support Pakistan in this regard.

According to the statement, the Ministry of Public Security of China launched an investigation in this connection and found no such evidence, adding that there was no forced prostitution or sale of human organs.

It added: “The Chinese side also sent a task force to Pakistan to carry out law enforcement cooperation with the Pakistani side, which is proved to be very effective.”

“It is clear that certain media has made groundless story again without full investigation and inrespect of the facts. Its intention is very suspicious,” the statement further read.

“We will never allow a few criminals to undermine China-Pakistan friendship and hurt the friendly feelings between two peoples. We also hope that media reports should seek truth from facts.”

U.S.-based news agency in its report highlighted the trafficking networks that are exploiting the country’s poor and vulnerable.

According the facts enlisted in the report, the most concrete figure yet for the number of women caught up in the trafficking schemes since 2018.

AP in its report claimed that the biggest case against traffickers has fallen apart. In October, a court in Faisalabad acquitted 31 Chinese nationals charged in connection with trafficking.

Several of the women who had initially been interviewed by police refused to testify because they were either threatened or bribed into silence.

However, Associated Press claimed that China’s Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of the list.

All but a handful of the marriages took place in 2018 and up to April 2019. According to the report, itwas believed all 629 were sold to grooms by their families.

The report claimed that, “The Chinese and Pakistani brokers make between 4 million and 10 million rupees ($25,000 and $65,000) from the groom, but only about 200,000 rupees ($1,500), is given to the family.”

The report quoted Omar Warriach’s statement who is the Amnesty International’s campaigns director for South Asia, “Pakistan must not let its close relationship with China become a reason to turn a blind eye to human rights abuses against its own citizens” — either in abuses of women sold as brides or separation of Pakistani women from husbands from China’s Muslim Uighur population sent to “re-education camps” to turn them away from Islam.

“It is horrifying that women are being treated this way without any concern being shown by the authorities in either country. And it’s shocking that it’s happening on this scale,” he said.

Although the report is exclusive, but this is not reported first time, the case has been highlighter.

In may this year, Pakistani forces arrested dozens of Chinese men and their agents in a crackdown against traffickers targeting young women, mostly belonging to the country’s Christian minority.

The arrests were made in various cities of the central province of Punjab, said Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Half a dozen women between the ages of 17 and 25 were also rescued during the operation in Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and the capital, Islamabad.

The operation was launched after several Pakistani women were allegedly lured by the prospect of marriage with Chinese men, trafficked to China, and forced to become prostitutes there.